Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Trans Siberian Orchestra Rocks Holiday Opera Live

01/03/2013

Trans Siberian Orchestra Rocks Holiday Opera Live Posted: March 2013 | For Immediate Release

For the first time ever, Trans-Siberian Orchestra performed their acclaimed 2004 rock opera The Lost Christmas Eve live in its entirety. Written by founder Paul ONeill, it tells the uplifting story of redemption and salvation on an enchanting Christmas Eve in New York City. The orchestra takes listeners on a journey deep into their imaginations, from a run-down hotel, to an old toy store, a blues bar and a Gothic Cathedral. The tour, presented by the Hallmark Channel, ran through the end of last year with Clair Global providing exclusive live sound production.

TSO created two separate and complete productions in 2000 to allow the band to cover more ground and they've maintained that format ever since. In 2009, the two tour monitor engineers, Antonio Luna and Chris Hoffmann made the decision to go with the SD7s largely because they had maxed out their D5 consoles. In 2010, both outfits fully upgraded the FOH rigs similarly to a pair of mirrored DiGiCo SD7 systems (comprised of a console with SD-Racks at both FOH and monitor world). The DiGiCo SD7 has been on tour with TSO ever since.

It's interesting, explains current unit monitor engineer, Scott Fraser, that we basically built two identical shows systems for essentially two different shows. While the kits are the same, the way the SD7's are utilized between the two productions is uniquely different.

"In the big picture, having identical consoles for both really kept things simple and provided consistency, from a production and logistics standpoint," said Troy Clair, Clair Global president. "For the operators, it kept the workflow smooth and eliminated compatibility issues."

We started using the SD7 at FOH for the first spring 2010 Beethoven's Last Night tour after having used large analog consoles for the first 11 years, recalled Dave Wittman, FOH engineer for the original TSO production and currently on tour with one of the productions. It was the perfect time to make the switch since we needed a smaller footprint but more inputs as we went back to theatres for the spring tours. I went to Clair Global in Chicago to get some basic orientation with the console. At that time, Michi Tanikawa (current FOH engineer for the second production) was my tech. Once I got the layout to a point where I'd be comfortable, Michi did all the console programming. From then on, we were able to use the saved files from tour to tour with only minimal modifications.

Wittman worked with frontman O'Neill back in the late 70's on a short project. Nearly 17 years later, they hooked up again when Paul needed an engineer to mix the band Savatage's album Dead Winter Dead in 1995. Shortly thereafter, we started recording Paul's new project, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and within a year or two, Paul wanted to tour TSO and asked me to go out and mix the show. I explained that I had never done live sound before, but Paul encouraged me to give it a go. Well, here we are 14 years later and I'm having a blast! I've been working with Paul ever since, recording and mixing all of TSO's studio albums and a live show ever since.

In total, each TSO unit has approximately 65-80 inputs for drums, bass, two guitars, four keyboards, 12 vocal mics, eight live strings, and audience mics with another 15 inputs for spares and utility stuff. I probably haven't scratched the surface using all the features on the SD7 that I could, Wittman laughs. On the other hand, I try to keep things simple and the SD7 does everything we need. I have always had two or three outboard reverbs and a bunch of compressors. Now, having all this onboard is perfect. Flexibility is key with this console; I know it's there, and it more than meets my needs. Additionally, we record each show to Digital Performer and the simplicity of interfacing 80 channels via MADI with two cables and the ability to playback and refine your mix later is a tremendous help. Not to mention, the sonic quality is superb.

A self-professed analog guy who has worked with TSO for the past 5-6 years, Michihiro Michi Tanikawa happily and willingly concedes to the SD7 at FOH for the West Coast unit. I like analog consoles, but we can't bring them on tour, so that's why I stick with the SD7. It makes everything sound more analog with digital convenience. I had been using a D5 for a long time, which made it easy to start using the SD7the faders and layout is set up very much like an analog console unlike some of the other digital console's out there. I still like the analog console sound, but the SD7 always sounds accurate, every day on different gigs and takes up less space. Also, they are great for doing multiple recordings and virtual soundchecks.

I love the console's basic logistics and layout; it's very similar to the D5. And it sounds so great amazing! The SD7 has a more hi-fi' sound especially for TSO. And because our audience ranges from young children to adults, we keep the volume comfortable for everyone, while still being a powerful rock show. There are narration parts, too, that must sound clear so everybody can understand what is being said. It's also fun to change the EQ just a little bit and hear how it alters the sound drastically. The only outboard compression I'm using is a Smart C2 compressor to make it a little bit warmer and analog-sounding before I send it to the PA. The band loves the console and the production loves it too.

At monitor world, the configuration for each outfit is a mix of wedges and in-ears: 24 mixes of Sennheiser IEM (8 mixes of 2050 and 16 of G3), two stereo mixes of Clair CM 22 and two mixes of Clair SRM, with the wedges all powered and processed by Clair StakRac with Lab Gruppen PLM20000Q.
LINK: http://www.digico.biz/docs2/latest_news/EFykVAEAupmMVPfljo.shtml...
See more stories from digico

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

12/06/2026

How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP

How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026 Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...

11/06/2026

HBSs Johannes Franken on Digital Innovations, the Role of the Influencer at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...

11/06/2026

Nielsen: Soccer Fandom in North America Tops 136 Million, Up 10.9% in Five Years

Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...

11/06/2026

Telemundo Announces All-Day Opening Day Coverage for FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 11

Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...

11/06/2026

Fubo Announces Distribution Agreement With NBCUniversal

FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...

11/06/2026

DAZN Announces In-App Features for FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage in Spain, Italy, and Japan

DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...

11/06/2026

Roblox Report: Sports Engagement on Platform Drives Real-World Fandom and Purchases

Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...

11/06/2026

Andrea Bocelli, David Guetta, Megan Thee Stallion, and EJAE Release Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem DNA'

FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...

11/06/2026

ESPN Announces Extensive English- and Spanish-Language World Cup 2026 Coverage

ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...

11/06/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Teddy Batkin, Rochester Institute of Technology

The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering In...

11/06/2026

DAZN and DSPORTS Announce Distribution Agreement Across Five Latin American Countries

DAZN has announced a multi-year agreement to make DSPORTS channels available to ...

11/06/2026

Resource Actors Throughout the Years at Sundance Institute's Directors Lab

Laura Dern at the 1986 Sundance Institute Directors Lab (Photo by Eric Edwards) By Lucy Spicer It takes a village to bring together the Sundance Institute lab...

11/06/2026

Introducing a New Standard for Podcast Plays and Upgraded Creator Analytics Experience

As podcast formats evolve in the streaming era, podcasting needs updated, transp...

11/06/2026

RADAR Italia Unveils 6 New Artists and a New Approach for 2026

As Spotify's global RADAR program enters its sixth year in Italy, a new class of artists is stepping into the spotlight. Today, we're announcing the six...

11/06/2026

5 Audiobooks that Amplify and Celebrate Queer Voices

Pride Month is a time for celebration, reflection, and amplifying the diverse stories and perspectives from the LGBTQIA+ community that enrich our world. To hel...

11/06/2026

VSL introduce Synchron Solo Violin 1 & Cello (sordino)

First in new line of muted string libraries VSL have just announced the launch of two new string libraries that represent the first two instalments in a new...

11/06/2026

Novation reveal the Launchkey 61 MK4 White

New colour option for 61-key Launchkey MK4 At Superbooth 2025, Novation introduced the Launchkey Mini 37 White and Launchkey 49 White, bringing an additiona...

11/06/2026

Arturia announce the MiniLab 37

Larger, but still compact! Arturia's popular compact MIDI controller keyboard is now available in a, well, slightly less compact version! The new MiniLa...

11/06/2026

Eurosatory 2026: Rohde & Schwarz shapes the new-generation battlefield

Eurosatory 2026: Rohde & Schwarz shapes the new-generation battlefield Rohde & Schwarz unveils next generation SIGINT/EW and CUAS solutions on uncrewed system...

11/06/2026

Rohde & Schwarz unveils NEMACS - Directional, ultra secure connectivity for the future battlefield

Rohde & Schwarz unveils NEMACS - Directional, ultra secure connectivity for the ...

11/06/2026

MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit

MTI FILM acquires Mango/New Edit Posted by MTI Film on June 10, 2026 LOS ANGELES, CA - June 2026 - MTI FILM, the multiple Emmy Award winning Hollywood post-p...

11/06/2026

Ungrounded LLM Fabricates Every Detail for Nearly 1 in 5 Movie and TV Titles Tested, New Gracenote Report Finds

Study underscores the need for authoritative content intelligence to build trust...

11/06/2026

PTZOptics, LayerJot Partner on AI-Powered PTZ at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/06/2026

Chyron Unveils PAINT 10.4

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/06/2026

Maxon Brings Real-Time Architectural Visualization to AIA26 With New Redshift for Revit and Archicad Integration Beta

Maxon Brings Real-Time Architectural Visualization to AIA26 With New Redshift fo...

11/06/2026

ABC Kid's Caper Crew Shoots Australian Adventure with Blackmagic Design

ABC Kid's Caper Crew Shoots Australian Adventure with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 11, 2026 0 Comments DP Judd Overton and team bring Wes A...

11/06/2026

PTZOptics and LayerJot demo Visual Reasoning at InfoComm...

PTZOptics, and LayerJot today announced live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how prompt-based AI, robotic camera control, and high-performance computing...

11/06/2026

Lightware launches GPIO Button to deliver simplified hard...

Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, announces the release of GPIO-Button-10S, a dedicated control interface enabling straightforward press-to-a...

11/06/2026

NABs LeGeyt Urges Congress to Limit NFL's Antitrust Exemption

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/06/2026

Fubo Inks New Distribution Agreement with NBCUniversal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

11/06/2026

Kiloview to Showcase Broadcast-Grade AV-over-IP Solutions...

Kiloview, a leading innovator in AV-over-IP video solutions, will return to InfoComm 2026 (Booth# N8327) with broadcast-grade AV-over-IP solutions designed for ...

11/06/2026

Australian Games Industry Glossary of Terms

Australian Games Industry Glossary of Terms 10 June 2026 From DAU and EULA to COT and QADE, here's a list of game industry terms, industry jargon and their...

11/06/2026

Berklee's Tonya Butler Named Music Business Educator of the Year

Berklee's Tonya Butler Named Music Business Educator of the Year The Music Business Association honored Butler at its annual Bizzy Awards. June 10, 2026 ...

11/06/2026

Ann Mincieli to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee NYC Graduate Commencement

Ann Mincieli to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee NYC Graduate Commencement The five-time Grammy-winning engineer and producer, known for her longstanding...

11/06/2026

Daisy May Cooper rallies the nation ahead of ICC Womens T20 World Cup

Thursday 11 June 2026 Daisy May Cooper rallies the nation ahead of ICC Women's T20 World CupTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options and...

11/06/2026

Hadewych Minis and Geert van Rampelberg to Star in New Netflix Series Directed by Paula van der Oest

Back to All News Hadewych Minis and Geert van Rampelberg to Star in New Netflix...

11/06/2026

Official Trailer for Anime Adaptation of Thunder 3' Unveiled Ahead of July 9 Premiere

Back to All News Official Trailer for Anime Adaptation of Thunder 3' Unvei...

11/06/2026

RT Radio 1 and Irish Lights mark RT 100 with special broadcasts from Ireland's Lighthouses

Summer solstice shows from C il House and Late Date from 9pm on Saturday 20 Jun...

11/06/2026

Save Big and Play Bigger: GeForce NOW Summer Sale Brings Major Membership Savings

The GeForce NOW summer sale kicked off today with limited-time savings of up to ...

10/06/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Team Whistle's Joe Caporoso on Building World Cup Content Around Fans, Culture, IRL Experiences

DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...

10/06/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager

Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...

10/06/2026

Caretta Research: 2026 World Cup Revenue Growth Due to More Matches; Rights Revenue Up 32%

An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...

10/06/2026

Women Without Boundaries Awards Are Back!

The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...

10/06/2026

On Eve of World Cup Kickoff, FIFA and HBS Offer Deep Dive into IBC Operations, Commentary, and Ref Cam

Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...

10/06/2026

SES Supporting World's Biggest Soccer Tournament Broadcast Distribution Worldwide

SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...

10/06/2026

BirdDog Achieves Full NDI 6.3 Compatibility Across Entire Product Line

NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...